REDUCE, RECYCLE, REINVENT / PAGE 4
LIFESTYLES OF THE INCREDIBLY GREEN
On the “deeper green” side of the sustainable picture are the so-called Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS). It’s this burgeoning group that the LOHAS Weekly Newsletter claims make “conscientious purchasing and investing decisions based on social and cultural values.”
My wife and I both agreed that giving in this way, on our wedding day, was a nice way for us to begin our lives as a couple.
A growing number of people today are planning their weddings considering such things as where the precious metals and jewels come from that make up their wedding rings, or realizing that the carbon emissions produced by guests traveling via plane or automobile create large amounts of greenhouse gases. When planning their weddings, couples today have at their disposal a variety of ways to counter such effects. For instance, organizations like GreenKarat.com and BrilliantEarth.com specialize in wedding bands made from eco-friendly gold or platinum and diamonds that are certified conflict-free.
Says Beczner, who caters largely to the LOHAS market, “Basically you can't tell the difference between a recycled platinum ring with socially conscious diamonds and a mainstream, environmentally and socially unconscious wedding ring that has a huge environmental and social burden to bare.”
For those concerned about their “carbon footprints,” DriveNeutral is another resource that helps couples offset the environmental impact that their wedding day may generate. Brett McCovey, who has used DriveNeutral, comments, “Considering the large amount of people we’d invited to our wedding, it just felt right to look into carbon emission offsetting programs.” The concept of DriveNeutral works by turning carbon offsetting dollars into credits toward renewable energy projects like wind, solar, hydropower, and bio-fuel systems and projects that reduce pollution from manufacturing plants – the largest source nationally for greenhouse gas emissions.
McCovey also used a popular gift registry called the I Do Foundation, which helps couples to set up “charity registries” that support the organization of their choice; or sets up gift registries that donate to a chosen charity a percentage of the amount spent on gifts purchased from partner stores like Macy’s, Williams-Sonoma and REI – in some cases as much as eight percent.
“My wife and I both agreed that giving in this way, on our wedding day, was a nice way for us to begin our lives as a couple,” says McCovey, “making this contribution to the future of the planet, to the future wellbeing of the family we’re creating.” BOND
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